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Politics
Greg Evans
Sep 29, 2021
Labour leader Keir Starmer has been heckled by a small number of people during his eagerly awaited speech at the Labour Party conference in Brighton.
Starmer’s speech was met with some derision by a pocket of protesters in the audience who held up red cards and shouted “£15” - in reference to Labour’s refusal to back a scheme to increase the minimum wage to £15.
There were also reports of people shouting “Oh Jeremy Corbyn”, criticising his Brexit policy and another person asking “where’s Peter Mandelson?”
Although the heckling was fairly consistent throughout his speech, Starmer did manage to hit back at the hecklers, asking them: “Shouting slogans or changing lives?”
In another retort, he said: “At this time on a Wednesday it’s normally the Tories that are heckling me, it doesn’t bother me then, and it doesn’t bother me now.”
The Labour leader’s challenge to the critics was met with applause before he went on to discuss how his family life had taught him lessons about the value of work and care.
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After being interrupted again, he replied: “You can chant all day,” before being applauded by the audience.
The attempts to undermine Starmer’s speech were met with furious backlash on social media, especially as part of the speech involved the 59-year-old talking about his dying mother and the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
Disgusting to see @Keir_Starmer being rudely heckled by shrieking Corbynites as he speaks so movingly about his mot… https://t.co/S4cz3niSUC— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1632914976
If your priority when Keir Starmer is talking about the death of his mother is to shout 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' you know… https://t.co/Y5fkKHoH2V— Claire Meadows 🪐 (@Claire Meadows 🪐) 1632915071
Heckles so far have come when Keir Starmer was talking about his mother and the murder of Stephen Lawrence . Either… https://t.co/JsI1o2WraI— Nick Cohen (@Nick Cohen) 1632915712
Heckling Starmer while he’s talking about his mum dying in hospital is a really, really poor look.— Hannah Al-Othman (@Hannah Al-Othman) 1632914510
Heckling Keir Starmer while he talks about his mother dying? A new low.— Jono (@Jono) 1632914543
People are heckling while Keir Starmer talks about his mum’s death. Bleak.— Ben Kentish (@Ben Kentish) 1632914465
I don't entirely understand the political logic behind choosing to heckle the bit where Starmer is talking about hi… https://t.co/dBxwDX6qzD— Alex Andreou (@Alex Andreou) 1632915011
How unpleasant to see Corbyn supporters heckling Keir Starmer’s first conference speech. I was in the room when Je… https://t.co/oaqVuIOEm1— Benjamin Butterworth (@Benjamin Butterworth) 1632916638
Some commentators felt that the heckling might actually help Starmer get his messages across to the wider public,
I think the heckling of Starmer is helpful in a way. It reminds people what came before.— James Oh Brien (@James Oh Brien) 1632914633
The odd heckle here and there but feels like majority of of the hall on his side - he says ‘it’ll be the tories hec… https://t.co/2lALCSH0cI— Laura Kuenssberg (@Laura Kuenssberg) 1632914041
Keir Starmer is getting routinely heckled by Jeremy Corbyn supporters in the audience but during a speech that we’r… https://t.co/xXJgitI562— Ben Kentish (@Ben Kentish) 1632914035
"Where's Peter Mandelson?" Someone shouts. There was a sense at the start that this was a sustained and potentially… https://t.co/RZaQa8ONZW— Ian Dunt (@Ian Dunt) 1632915710
The hecklers are holding up their red A4 pieces of paper again, which are meant to be Starmer out ‘red cards.’ Why… https://t.co/ozIBjTgaql— Tom Peck (@Tom Peck) 1632916963
Others felt that heckling of politicians should be allowed but only in moderation and when it was appropriate.
I'm not a heckler myself, but wouldn't you expect a politician who breaks promises to get heckled, especially if th… https://t.co/TRnOTB718R— Owen Jones 🌹 (@Owen Jones 🌹) 1632915229
Bizarrely, one of the hecklers has since been identified as Carole Vincent, a contestant from Big Brother season 8, who once stood as a council candidate for George Galloway’s Respect Party.
This is legit Carole from Big Brother season 8, who once stood for George Galloway's former party. https://t.co/Zc8KAPgOBz— Oz Katerji (@Oz Katerji) 1632918441
It remains to be seen if the heckling will distract from Starmer’s lengthy speech where he outlined his vision for the Labour Party which included a focus on tackling crime, improving the economy and education, fighting climate change and fixing the problems caused by the Tories with Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.
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